Lucian stared at the red rose-shaped hairpin lying on the table in front of him.
"Your Highness, if you keep staring at it like that, you might as well burn a hole through it," Dylan teased, only to receive a sharp elbow to his side from Adrian.
"Hey!" the blonde-haired man yelped but quickly regained his composure when he felt the grand duke's cold gaze fall on him.
"Why don't you just give it to her?" Glain asked hesitantly.
Lucian closed his eyes, the weight of the past few days pressing heavily on his mind. The king had passed away, but the queen had forbidden the news from reaching the public. His body had been preserved in a coffin made of glass, encased in cold ice. The image lingered in Lucian's thoughts, the stench from the chamber clinging to his senses, making him frown in discomfort.